Frankenstein's Monster
by Animic
Summary: Kuja wasn't the first to experiment with mist, and before Vivi's grandfather left his Qu tribe, there was someone else living in that little cave right near Treno. His name was Viktor Franks, and he was determined to bring his brother back to life.


**Frankenstein's Monster  
><strong>A one-shot

_Okay, so I've been bitten by the Final Fantasy IX fanfiction but, I know. I just can't stop! I believe this is my...fourth...story on Blank? Well, he _is _my favorite character. Anyway, this story is basically a hopefully more unique tale about how Blank ended up looking the way he does and what his history is. And how he got his name (because no sane mother would name their child Blank. That's just mean)_

_The majority of the story IS written in the third person POV of an OC, and I apologize. But, for the sake of Frankenstein, I had to do that. This is kind of a mix-up off of Frankensten, with a few differences. If you've read Frankenstein, I put in a few references/quotes from the book that you might enjoy. And I hope to have Viktor's personality down in this story. _

_By the way, here is a spoiler alert to maintain your interest in this story. Mitch is Blank. Just FYI_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantays IX _or _Frankenstein. _

* * *

><p>Kuja wasn't the first to experiment with mist, and before Vivi's grandfather left his Qu tribe, there was someone else living in that little cave right near Treno. His name was Viktor Franks.<p>

Viktor had always been a special case. Growing up under a noble's family in the city of Treno, he received the best education in all of Gaia. Treno was the primary city for nobles, Alexandria coming in for a close second, and Lindblum bringing up the rear. At this moment in time, the slums of Treno hadn't even been established yet. It had been a city existing entirely of nobles, so no one ever hard to worry about checking their pockets on a daily basis. The Queen was in control of the city and the nobles went about their daily lives, taking part in stock, the action house and playing card games, which was a very popular way of gambling. Many people bet on the winners of the game and it was almost seen as a sport around Treno. The noble's sport.

Of course, Viktor wasn't the only genius of Treno. His rival and best friend was named Cyrus Tot, another noble, whom everyone just called Tot. Both of the boys had a very vested interest in science, but they disagreed on many things, as most scientists will do. Viktor had a more liberal outtake on science, believing in the idea that men evolved from the bases of Gaia and sprouted into life, and those who lived would return there when they died. Tot was the opposite. Having a more conservative view, Tot was 100% positive that there were such things as Gods. He believed the Gods looked out for them in more ways than one. The Gods were the ones who gave them life, and Tot was sure, as were many other 'religious' folk, that when the time came for them to die, the dead would meet in a sacred place for all eternity and await the arrival of everyone else.

They disagreed a lot, but both of them loved to argue at that age. Both of them knew that the other one's opinion would never change. That's what made it fun. It was nice to have another intellectual to argue this stuff with; not some idiotic thief from the slums.

Viktor was eighteen when he graduated with honors from the noble's university in Treno, alongside Tot; each of them bearing a 5.0. His whole family was there: His mother, his father, and his younger brother, Mitch, who was only six at the time. Despite the twelve year age difference, Viktor and Mitch were the closest set of brothers you could ever lay your eyes on. Viktor was always taking Mitch out on field trips, teaching him about science and the way the world works. Mitch ate it up like it was candy. He loved listening to his brother about his theory of evolution.

Unlike Viktor, Mitch wasn't that intelligent. That's not to say he was stupid; he did okay in school. Mitch had always been more athletic, even as a child. He would be more interested in playing a game of ball than sitting in school. Viktor had never really been a kid. He was always studying as a child; but Mitch, he took advantage of his childhood. Running around with the other kids, being in shape, playing with cards and action figures, and just about every sport you could think of. Mitch had this untamable energy. It was something Viktor looked up to. He'd never had that sort of energy as a kid.

Even though they were different, neither of them said anything offensive about it. They could always find something to learn from the other.

On Viktor's 21st birthday, the four of them were sitting at the dinner table. There was a bottle of wine on the table regarding Viktor's coming of age, which remained untouched. It was simply there for show, though Mitch eyed it rather longingly. He was the only one at the table that did so.

"Mother, father," Viktor said. "I shall be leaving this week."

Both his mother and father looked at each other, sadly. They knew this day was coming. Viktor had always been a talented scientist. They had always known that he would leave them, one day, to do far more greater things.

"Where will you be going?" his mother asked.

"I'm not sure yet, mother. I seek to prove my hypothesis about the evolution of mist and mankind. Tot's father owns a Roo to Lindblum where he knows a man who breeds chocobos, which I will be using for travel. I'll be logging my journeys, as well, noting as many different monsters I may find that may be a clue to the mist. I'll send letters, don't fret, mother."

The table was silent. No one was going to try and stop him from leaving. Certain members of his family did not approve of the theory that Viktor represented. The idea of mist was somewhat of a forbidden topic around Gaia. People were too afraid to talk about it. The mist certainly controlled them; that was for sure.

As the silence went on, Mitch cleared his throat. "Can I have some wine?" he asked, looking up expectantly at his mother and father. They both smiled.

"_May_ I," his mother corrected him.

Mitch rolled his eyes and smirked. "_May _I have some wine?" he asked again.

His father chuckled and poured a small amount into a glass. "Don't get drunk, boy," he said, handing the glass down to Mitch who sipped at it, happily. The rest of the time at the dinner table was silent, apart from Mitch asking for another glass and mother saying not a chance.

* * *

><p>After that day, Viktor Franks had not been seen for five years. No one knew where he was or if he was even alive. The letters stopped coming after a while. Most people assumed him to be dead and this was a huge hit on the entire Franks family, as well as Cyrus Tot, who considered him family as his father had recently died of pneumonia. His family had no hope; and they held a small memorial funeral for him on his 26th birthday. Mitch ran it and gave the eulogy. He was 14 and hadn't seen or heard from his brother in exactly five years to the day. It was an emotional time for the whole family, including Tot.<p>

Cyrus Tot had taken over his father's astronomy tower and dedicated his life to the study of the stars and medicine, giving up slightly on his theory of the Gods as there was more proof to condemn this theory than prove it. He had found a bit of information regarding a summoner tribe but those were just rumors and folk tales. They couldn't be real and so, he abandoned that part of his life and moved to more serious topics.

Meanwhile, literally on the other side of the world, Viktor was doing just the opposite.

Yes, Viktor was still alive. His journal, that had been a gift from his father, was filled with information and sketches on various monsters and creatures that he had encountered; along with different races. Viktor had been one of the first to discover life on different continents. As a child, he was always fascinated with the idea of more races and more towns than on those of the Mist continent. At this, Tot never disagreed with him upon. They both believed there was other civilization besides their own, and they were right.

Viktor traveled west from the Mist continent and came upon a landmass covered in mountains and crevices. There was no sign of intelligent life that he could see, but there were numerous creatures, mist being on this continent, as well. As he went further west, he came upon green land; he hadn't seen green land since he left the Mist continent. Right near it was a small waterfall and, relieved, Viktor parked his chocobo near it where he proceeded to fill his water can from the falls and decontaminate it. Along with discovering the existence of the monsters he called the Grand Dragons, he, then, found a city. Who would have known that this mountain had a town inside of a waterfall?

The city's name was Daguerro, he found out, and it was filled with the most intellectual and knowledgeable people he had ever met in his life. People from several different races resided here. They knew so much more about the world than the mist continent citizens did and Viktor spent the next four years of his life, studying there. The people of Daguerro were exceptionally smart. In fact, the majority of the city of Daguerro was filled with books. It was a stunningly large library so; no wonder it housed the world's greatest scientists and scholars.

After four years of study under the people of Daguerro, he was given a map of the world by one of the professors. Taking it, graciously, he set on his journey, again, to finish his hypothesis about the mist, and turn it into a theory, and then, hopefully, scientific law. He couldn't wait to shove that in Tot's face.

During his trip around the world, Viktor seemed to notice that there were many areas that had mist, and many that did not. The Mist Continent seemed to occupy the majority of the mist but the remaining continents seemed to be free of it. And the closer an island was to the Mist Continent, naturally, the more mist resided there. There was one area in the landmass he called the Outer Continent that held a source of mist. There was a tree west of the Outer Continent that was surrounded by mist. Speaking to a few locals, the dwarf-like creatures call it a Sanctuary and you go there after you get married.

Enchanted, Viktor began to study it. The hypothesis he created was that the tree was a source of life. The roots, he noted, extended far into the ground that Viktor came to the conclusion that this tree was somehow connected to all the continents, including the Mist Continent. Seeing how there was an abundant amount of mist there and around the tree, they had to be connected. What it did, exactly, Viktor didn't know. Possibly control life around the Mist, as it is an over-populated continent. Trees, in science, are alive in some way. Therefore, this tree had to be, too, and it had to be somewhat controlling or altering the life force of those on Gaia.

It was truly fascinating.

Finally, it was time to come home. On the day after his 26th birthday, Viktor set a course for his home town, Treno, to show all of his discoveries. But, what he found when he got there…was a huge surprise.

Slums.

Thieves. Poor people roaming the streets. Could this really be Treno? Five years ago, Treno was the city of nobles, not a poor soul in sight. Was this even legal?

He checked the house he used to once live in asking the bellman for the Franks establishment. The bellman said that no one under the name Franks lived here. After the recession, he said, a lot of nobles were forced onto the streets and he suggested that Viktor check there.

It couldn't be true. Viktor refused to believe it. His mother living on the streets? Little Mitch eating table scraps? No. This could not have happened. And yet…

He made his way through the slums, carefully guarding his possessions as he walked through the city of now thieves. He clearly didn't have anything of value, the thieves saw. Mostly science work. What would thieves want with that? Suddenly, Viktor felt a fumbling in his pocket. Confused, he lifted up his hands. His hands were not in his pocket. He turned around quickly enough to catch a red-headed boy turning around to run away, successfully stealing whatever money Viktor had left which, for a boy on the street, was actually a rather large amount of gold.

Without skipping a beat, Viktor grabbed the boy by the neck before he could go any farther.

"Give back what you stole," Viktor commanded, slowly turning the boy around so he could see his face. What he saw…nearly gave him a heart attack. "Mitch?"

"Viktor?" he asked. He slowly put Viktor's money back into his hand and the two stared at each other for a long time.

Mitch looked nothing like he used to. For one, he was older and had to be 14 now; his fine shirt and dress pants were replaced with a belt that was worn as a sash across his chest with very small, ragged brown shorts (though, he was sure that the shorts did not come brown). Mitch was homeless and a thief. When did this happen?

His brother led him to where his mother resided. She was sitting next to a small fire along with many other homeless people. She was bone-skinny and pale. When she saw Viktor, she choked.

"Viktor," she said, embracing her eldest son in a hug so tight that bears would be admiring it. "I'm so glad you're home," she said, clasping his cheeks with her hands and kissing his forehead.

"Where is father?" Viktor asked.

No one said anything. Mitch was sitting on the ground, pretending to be interested with playing with a rock, and his mother's glance turned to the ground.

"You've been gone for so long, Viktor…" she explained. "A couple years after you left, there was a recession. Stock dropped to almost nothing. Many nobles, including our family, as you know, gained the majority of their wealth from being invested in stock. There was a riot at the bank as your father tried to gain whatever money we had left from it. But…the bank went up in smoke; the riots were too large and chaotic. It burned down, bringing many rioters with it, and, thus, burning every amount of gold we would have owned."

"He's gone?" Viktor asked, barely believing it. "And you've been living here?"

"We've been living _everywhere_," Mitch said, kind of grudgingly. He stood up and glared at Viktor with his arms crossed. "_You_ left us, remember? Where've you been? Soaking in all your riches at some fancy town off-continent? Getting all the ladies with your stupid big head and scientific jargon crap? While we've been here. We threw a funeral for you, god damnit! We thought you were dead. Tot went into depression because he was worried sick about you! You've been alive…all this time…and you couldn't even write a stupid fucking letter!" With that, Mitch stormed off. Probably to go steal some more junk from an unsuspecting, still existing noble.

Viktor was stunned. But, instead of apologizing, he said, "Where did he learn to speak like that?"

His mother was almost offended. "We've been living on the streets for three years, Viktor. Where do you _think?_ Nobles don't exist anymore; and respect has certainly gone out the window. Believe me; I'm being polite to you because you're my son and I haven't seen you in five years. He _is_ right, you know."

Viktor said nothing. He was right. Every word. If Viktor would have known what was going on at his home, he would have come back to properly care for his family. The fact that his 14 year old brother had been taking care of their mother was shocking. He could be killed doing stuff like that, or in prison. And then where would his mother be? Dead. Surely, she would not be forced to thieving. She couldn't if she had to. And she would die.

The next couple weeks, Viktor lived on the streets with his mother and Mitch, who refused to talk to him. Cyrus Tot had managed to keep his astronomy tower but ever since the death of his father and Viktor, he refused to leave it, cooping himself in his house with his studies. Viktor demanded why Mitch and mother didn't go to Tot's after the recession hit. Mother said she could never be a burden like that to Tot; and Mitch refused. He actually seemed to prefer living on the streets.

Viktor refused to steal, but he did shadow his brother, making sure no harm came to him as he proceeded to provide for his family. Relinquishing all his money left over from his journey, Viktor was now broke. He assured both surviving members of his family that his findings were conclusive and the money he got from them would be enough to feed their family and find them shelter, at least. Mitch didn't believe him in the slightest but their mother humored Viktor. Silently, she had never approved of his studies in the first place.

The studies were not conclusive.

While Viktor had been around all of the continents of Gaia, the rest of the world hadn't. They laughed at his drawings and descriptions of newfound monsters. They didn't believe his findings of the tree of life in the northern continent that controlled life and death throughout the mist continent. They refused to fund further investigation of the hypothesis. His findings were illogical and ill-proven. Everything he had been researching for the past five years of his life…gone down the drain.

Once again, the Franks family was broke and out of ideas.

"So, what was that assurance that you were going to feed us and give us shelter, Mr. Man of the House?" Mitch scoffed with a sense of sarcastic humor to his tone. "Please. Welcome to the real world, Viktor. Learn to live with it. It's survival of the fittest now."

The hatred that his younger brother had for him was almost unbearable. Mitch just didn't understand the importance of science. He never would. While thieving seemed like the only opportunity left for the once nobles of Treno, there were other options. Viktor still vowed to somehow prove his hypothesis, and they would all be rich.

One night, Viktor was awoken from his sleep with a severely bad dream about the death of their father and woke up, sweating. Mitch, he found, was sitting right across from him, staring at him. They were sleeping under a bridge along with at least a dozen other homeless nobles, all whom were fast asleep; except for Mitch.

"Good to know that you at least give a shit about our family," he sneered.

Viktor was silent for a beat. "What happened to him?"

"Mom told you. He died on Black Day."

"Black Day?"

"The day the recession hit." Both of them were silent. Viktor knew so little, it made him sick.

"I'm so sorry, Mitch."

"Sorry doesn't change anything."

Viktor, again, was silent. What was it about Mitch that could constantly stunt him in his speech? He sure was different than the little boy that Viktor left five years ago. He was desperate to change the subject, though, for his own selfish reasons, and tried to skew the conversation away from the fact that he wanted to kill himself for abandoning his family the way he had. Mitch was right. Sorry didn't change anything. It wasn't good enough. He could never make up for what he'd done.

"Did I wake you?" Viktor asked.

Mitch shook his head. "I barely sleep anymore. I stay here for _her._" Both of their eyes went to the mother sleeping soundly on the cold, stony ground. Viktor had no idea the hardship that Blank went through just to keep mother alive. Throughout the day and night, Mitch constantly worked to provide for her and make sure she was safe. Who knows when the last time he'd had a decent nights sleep was.

"What can I do, Mitch?" Viktor begged.

"The only thing you _can _do, geek. The only thing any of us can do."

"Become a thief…" He sounded almost disgusted at the thought. To become a criminal to keep himself alive? It sounded barbaric. Mitch had the strength to do it. Viktor did not.

"How do you think we're still alive right now? God, Viktor, you're such a snob. Do you still not get it? I'm homeless; Mom's homeless and you're homeless. We're all street rats, and the only way you stay alive is if you _think_ like a street rat."

"I don't know how."

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. Just go and move in with your stupid doctor bird freak; and take mom with you. Neither of you belong here. For different reasons." With that, he glared at his brother one last time, stood up and walked towards the latter of the slums, disappearing from view.

The following morning, Mitch remained missing. Viktor didn't really have to guess. Probably off trying to steal something for mother or just pouting about their talk last night. Viktor and Mitch had different views on everything, and they were clearly not the same person. Viktor was logical and Mitch was head-strong.

When his mother woke up, Viktor brought up the possibility of all of them moving into Tot's tower. Tot would take care of them all to the best of his ability and they would at least have a roof over their head. She refused. She could never burden anyone; it was in her nature. However, she insisted that Viktor lived there. It was where he wanted to go, she said; but Viktor would not go without his mother.

When Mitch finally returned, he brushed past Viktor like he was a ghost and began dumping a few gold coins into his mother's hand, along with a jade antique statue that could easily be sold for a decent amount of money at the auction. His mother kissed Mitch on the check.

"You take care of me," she said, stroking the hair in front of his ear. "Your father would be so proud." Mitch only lightly shrugged giving his mother a sad and tortured gaze. How long could he keep this up? Providing for himself and his mother? Not to mention the stupid scientist lug that didn't know how to take care of himself. The look in his eyes was a look of doubt; and his mother knew what was coming next.

There was a tournament that Mitch grew interest in ever since he stole a sword from the synthesis shop in noble's Treno. Every so often, he would train outside the grounds of Treno, learning and mastering how to defeat all the monsters to the best of his ability. He knew their strengths and weaknesses and he knew the significances of the items that they sometimes carried. Most of the time, he sold them, but things that they had picked up from other travelers that they killed, such as potions, came in handy, especially with his mother getting sick all the time. Through all the rigorous training, Mitch had gotten very strong and was very sure of himself.

He announced he was ready.

"Ready for what?" Viktor questioned.

Mitch ignored him.

The tournament, Viktor later found out, was basically a game; if a game involved gold or death. It was set in an area of the slums where a large sum of Gil was rewarded if you could kill whatever beast the King of Treno thought would be good that day. There were no rules and no way to stop the monster from killing you should you choose to go in. The nobles of Treno surely didn't care about the life of a street rat; so, they didn't even try to stop it. It isn't exactly called entertainment. It's the extermination of yet another unloved street pest that they wanted to get rid of.

For gold, you could give your life.

"I've grown stronger, mom. I can take care of myself in there," Mitch insisted. His mother buried him in a large and tight hug. She appreciated him doing this for the sake of their family, but she didn't want him to go. Her opinion wouldn't stop him; just like it wouldn't stop Viktor. Again, she was forced to keep her mouth shut. The idea of her baby going into a situation like that just so they could survive…it was unbearable.

"I love you," she said, burying her face in his chest.

"I love you, more," he whispered.

When he started to walk towards his fate, Viktor and his mother had a very brief conversation, where she was describing the game as well as the rewards and risks. Viktor ran off to find him before it was too late. He ran into him right in front of the arena as he was about to open the door, and Viktor slammed it shut.

"What the-" Mitch started.

"Why are you doing this?" Viktor demanded. "You don't need to risk your life to prove you're powerful. Believe me, I've been there before. It's not worth it. You don't need to prove you're the man of the house, Mitch."

Mitch only smirked at he stared at his brother. He was very much under the impression that his older brother was a child in so many ways. Why he looked up to him as a kid, Mitch does not remember. "That's not why I'm doing this. I'm not selfish like you are. I'm doing this because, unlike you, I actually stand a chance in my 'profession' and it might just save mom's life! 200,000 Gil. Can you imagine what we could do with that? To hell with being the man of the house."

He thrust the door open, almost causing Viktor to fall onto the ground, and made his way inside with Viktor at his heels. Mitch was walking over the pit where the monster's cage was held and gave his name to the woman hosting it, claiming that he would like to fight the beast. The woman gave a look of pity onto Viktor's younger brother. Even she seemed to know his fate.

Before she could get him to sign something, Viktor shoved Blank aside. "You don't have to do this, Mitch. We can stay at Tot's. He can give us starting money. He has a connection to Lindblum. We could live there; you've always wanted to. Just…stop being so stubborn and-"

"All I have left is my pride," he interrupted. "That's the one thing that no one can take away from me. I belong in the slums of Treno, Viktor. I've never fit in with nobles a day in my life. My loyalty goes to the scums and thieves…and I'm damn proud of that."

With that, Mitch walked towards the pit and stared at Viktor one last time, giving him that sarcastic, hateful grin. "I'll send letters…don't fret," he said, mocking the words Viktor promised before he left on his journey and never made contact with his family for five years, leading them to think he was dead. It was a joke…and it was Mitch's last words.

The pit dropped; and the game began.

* * *

><p>"Open the pit!" Viktor screamed. "Right now!"<p>

The lady refused saying that he would have to wait until the guards came and lured the monster back into his cage. Then, of course, they would have to clean up the mess. Viktor cried at the thought. His little brother…mauled to death by a dragon. No…it can't have happened. Why would they put a young Grand Dragon in the pit? How on earth was anyone supposed to survive that?

The fight was barbaric.

Once the pit dropped, Mitch already seemed to know that he was in over his head. The monster was a large dragon, easily four times his height. Mitch did not know magic. He relied on his relatively effective and accurate physical combat attacks; but those weren't going to be enough. Not for the dragons that made birth at Daguerro. Those dragons knew magic. Tough, enhanced and painful magic.

It did not last long. After the dragon humored his brother, letting him get in a few strikes, lightning was cast throughout the playing field and Mitch fell to the ground, paralyzed. After that, Viktor couldn't see what happened. All he knew was that the dragon was mauling his brother to pieces. He heard his brother's screams echoing throughout the room as Viktor demanded them to open the cage. What exactly Viktor planned to do, he didn't know. He could not just let his brother die.

All of a sudden, the screams stopped, and Viktor burst into tears kneeling on the floor of the arena. No…he couldn't be dead. Not his baby brother. Mitch couldn't be dead. He had to be alive to take care of mother. She was too stubborn to come with him to Tot's house. He had to make sure she was okay. He can't die!

The guards came out and stunned the beast, knocking him into his cage. The pit was opened, mostly by people's annoyance of Viktor, and he ran into the pit, examining the remains of his younger brother.

The sight was unbearable and made Viktor vomit on the side of his dead body. His limbs were literally torn apart and reeking with poison. He could see the organs coming out of his body and even being a scientist, it made him queasy. His face was the worst. One of his eyes had been scratched out and the other was badly bruised. The front side of his head had been pierced by the claws and was almost cut in half.

Whoever thought a dragon could do that much damage.

He found out later that the dragon was in its hypothesized teenage years and was a girl currently menstruating. It made Viktor sick to his stomach. To put a boy up against a monster such as that? It was unfair. It was just as good as giving the death penalty; though, even worse, the thieves signed up for the death penalty. Risking their lives for, what? Gil.

It was at this point that Viktor had lost his sanity. His father was dead. His scientific findings were rejected by the other scientists in his field. His mother and brother were living on the streets and now his brother was dead. No…Viktor wouldn't allow it. He would _fix_ this.

No one needn't die.

His thoughts went back to his findings and Viktor had just been starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The mist controlled life was his hypothesis. Life and death. Mist was a source of life. Surely it had to have some sort of soul-creating substance to it. Life went back to the ground once it was dead. Surely, that life would go to the mist. It had to be true! Mist was the source of life and therefore, those that were dead returned to the mist. It was a never ending cycle. If this were true…

Then his brother could live!

Obsessed with this thought, Viktor ran with the rest of his brother's limbs into a cavern that he discovered as a boy with Tot on one of their adventures. Back when Viktor still had energy to do such things.

At this cavern, Viktor made his lab. He quickly learned how to steal the necessary supplies he needed, as well as borrowing a few from Tot, who consistently asked what he needed the supplies for. Viktor never said. After Mitch died, though, Viktor practically forced his mother to move in with Tot for a temporary time period. Neither Tot nor mother knew just what Viktor was doing. Both of them had taken Mitch's death the wrong way, but Viktor had almost gone mad.

Mitch's body was in pieces; but Viktor's determination remained. Using regular sewing techniques, Viktor sewed the limbs of his brothers mauled and poisoned body together one by one. The sections of his body that were poisoned were a dark red, slightly purple color, but that helped differentiate between the two that he was stitching. He sewed his legs, arms and head back together properly and fashioned a belt atop his head to make sure that it wouldn't fall apart. He was no fashion designer and had never really sewn before. It wasn't too hard but, the head was the most difficult. It had to be done. It hid the hideousness of his head that he hoped his brother would never see.

After that, he quickly fashioned a rather crappy machine that captured the mist from outside and brought it into one separated area inside the cavern. It was basically a long pipe with a sucking device. Once tested, it worked properly, and he put the machine on a table in the nooks of the cavern.

The two pieces of his puzzle were done and Mitch's body hadn't started to fade away yet. He placed Mitch on the table in the cavern and turned his machine on. He prayed this would work as he had no other alternative. His theory was that the mist would somehow restore the organs in his body and, at the same time, repairing the now-dead cells in his brain. While he wasn't quite sure his brother would remain the same, at least he would be alive.

Viktor ran the mist machine for about half an hour before he turned it off.

"Please work; please work; please work," he begged to no one. "If there are Gods out there, please give me back my younger brother. I need to say I'm sorry one last time!"

Suddenly, he heard a shifting in the table. Viktor's eyes widened and he quickly ran around to see. Mitch had his feet over the edge of the table, his head turning from the left to right, and his fingers reaching up to touch the belt that lay on his forehead.

"Mitch?" Viktor asked, almost choking. Mitch turned his head in the direction of Viktor. "Mitch….do you remember me? It's Viktor…your older brother…Remember?"

The patchwork doll stared at Viktor for what seemed like a painfully long time. Viktor stared in disappointment. Yes, he had brought life back into this world. But, his brother did not remember him. From the looks of it, he could not speak. All he did was sit on the table and stare at him. Every so often, he would begin to walk around and simply touch things, like rocks. As if he were seeing a rock for the very first time.

One day, the patchwork doll simply walked out of the cavern.

Viktor was a mess. When he returned to Treno, he wouldn't eat. He wouldn't sleep. Two weeks after the disappearance of his now mist-made brother, Viktor jumped off of Tot's Astronomy tower, falling to his death. He had failed. He had killed his brother, again. Now, his brother was nowhere to be found. He never told anyone about what he had done. That he had brought his brother back to life in a way that Tot would deem unholy. Tot would say that it was up to the Gods to decide who is to live and who is to die. Viktor hated the Gods.

In the end, it was one question. What would happen after he died? Would he join the Gods like Tot believed, or would he simply rejoin the earth and the mist, bringing more well-deserving people back to life? Only the dead know.

Tot remained to care for the mother of Viktor and Mitch, despite her refusal to his help. It was no question as to where Mitch got his stubbornness from. In the end, she lived to age 53, and died of the same plague that Tot's father had died from. Tot spent most of his days in his Astronomy tower alone but eventually got a small job offer in Alexandria to tutor the Princess til' Alexandros, herself. Tot was most looking forward to this as the rumor stated that the adopted Princess Garnet arrived to Alexandria on a boat…the mother was dead but the girl had a horn on her head. How fascinating…

* * *

><p>The patchwork doll ventured all the way to a city the people inside called Lindblum. With the inability to speak and not having the tiniest speck of clue who he was, he simply roamed the streets during the day and slept on them at night.<p>

Recently, he had come aware of things. Something happened after a few days where his stomach began to hurt. Later he found that when he swallowed certain items around the town, his stomach would stop hurting. Within a day, something would happen to his lips. Along with that feeling, he would get exhausted. It did not take him long to find some clear, liquidly substance that satisfied that feeling of being parched.

Finding food was not all that difficult. Thieving seemed to come naturally to him. Taking something on someone's person or inside their store. He only seemed to be aware of what he needed to survive. He did not have a great thought process nor did he understand English at all. He simply knew what his body was telling him to do.

Of course, that feeling did not last long.

What is your first childhood memory? Not very long ago. Do you remember the day you were born? The day you learned how to walk? No, of course you don't. And it was the same way for the patchwork doll.

One day, he simply woke up.

The patchwork doll knew how to speak. He understood what the people were saying around them and his thought process was over-whelming him. It was almost as if he had lived a lifetime and had only just realized it. The doll found that he had talents. He was good at manipulating people. He was good at fighting. At stealing. All these things he seemed to have learned over night; and it was an amazing feeling.

He could take care of himself.

A few weeks after he realized this, something happened. He met someone. Someone that he would know for the rest of his life.

He was a large fat man, which was one of the reasons the doll aimed him as his target. Fat men did not know how to run so, even if he was caught, the doll could get away fairly easily. The man was walking with two others around 14, which was the age the patch doll thought he looked. He wasn't quite sure how old he was. One of the boys looked like a pirate with a bad overbite, and the other just…looked like a pig, quite frankly. They were easy targets, he suspected.

Walking past them while they were having their conversation, he snatched a small bag of Gil in the man's pocket and went to quickly run away when he was caught behind the scruff of his neck.

"Don't even think about it, kid," the fat man said with a smirk. "No one steals from me."

"Clearly, I just did," the doll replied.

"But, see, I caught ya," the fat pig man said. He held his hand out. The doll looked at it, slightly hesitantly. This would feed him for today. It wasn't even that much. The fat man saw the look on his face and sighed. "Tell you what; you keep that, and me and my boys will treat ya for dinner. How 'bout that?"

So, the doll let himself be led to their 'hideout' as they called it, which was basically a small cove in the Theatre district full of treasure and goodies. A young woman was in the kitchen hummin' a small country tune when the door opened.

"You boys 'ungry?" she asked through the room.

"Always," the pirate-boy said and they all walked towards the table, the old man dragging the patch doll behind him like a puppet.

The young lady walked in and began to set the table when her eyes caught on the patch puppet doll that the man had behind him. She seemed rather taken off guard. "Oh, well, howdy there, kid. I ain't ever seen you befor'."

The doll stared at her blankly and the young woman widened her eyes and took her seat, the three children all whispering together.

"Take a seat, boy," the man boomed. The doll didn't dare refuse and sat down in his seat, staring at the food as the others were grabbing rolls and slabs of meat. "Well, dig in," he said again. Looking at the man like he was crazy, the man only nodded at him. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed some food off the table, the rest of them eying him nervously.

"You got a name, kid?"

The doll blinked. Did he have a name? There was a name that he used to go by…he couldn't remember. He felt all hazy and every now and then, he could remember bits and pieces. He remembered the face of a beautiful woman who was frail and skinny; and, somewhere, he heard the name Viktor. That was the main thing he remembered. "No," he said.

"Well, I'm Baku. That's Marcus, Cinna and Ruby."

"Are you all related?" he asked, feeling almost a bit sad. He had no family that he could remember.

"Baku adopted us all, honey. We're from the streets; just like you," the girl named Ruby said with an odd happiness to her tone. "He _is _from the streets, right?" she asked the others. They nodded with a smirk.

Before the doll could ask another question, the boy named Marcus spoke up. "Where'd you get that dagger?" he asked, glancing at the weapon sheathed at his waste. The doll was at a loss of words.

"I…found it," he admitted. Not far from the truth, but not true at all. Baku began to chuckle.

"You steal it?" he asked.

"What if I did?" the doll asked, almost threatening him.

Baku laughed again. "You sure you don't got a name? What's yer story?"

The doll shrugged. "I woke up one day."

"You woke up?" Ruby asked, slightly getting very interested in the conversation. She loved mysterious stuff like this. She wanted to be an actress when she grew up and loved story-telling.

"I don't know. Do you remember the day you said your first word? It's sort of like that. I woke up one day…and I was here. I could talk and walk and think. I don't remember being a child. I don't remember my family. I'm just here…without a home. Everything in my memory up until a couple weeks ago is a blank."

Baku laughed a bit. The kid's tale was quite interesting. While a lot of people's lives suck, not a lot of them did not know their history. He glanced at the boys injuries and patch marks, making a note of the belt on his head. They had to be there for a reason. Just what had this boy been into?

"Well, kid, if you wanted a home…we always got room for one more." The boy looked confused and Baku smirked. "You could live with us if you wanted, kid." His eyes lit up.

So, it was settled. Under a signature by the Regent of Lindblum, he was officially adopted by Baku. There was one problem. During the adoption 'ceremony', it was, obviously, required for the said child to have a name. Since he had no knowledge of what that might be, Baku decided for him. Like he was naming his own son. For the lack of his memory…

He named him…Blank.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Regarding names:<em> **Viktor Franks is obviously from Viktor Frankenstein (duh). Tot's first name that I gave him: Cyrus. There was a definition I found on that name that said Cyrus was the name of a doctor in Alexandria...or something. Anyway, I thought it fit perfectly. As for Mitch. The name Mitch means 'who was made by God?' which I thought was ironic, as it IS Frankenstein, after all. The idea behind Frankenstein was defying God and creating life. So...that's the story of the names. The parents didn't have names...inspired by the Road.

_I hope you guys liked it! The time thing is a bit confusing and, frankly, you'll just have to use your imagination with that. The way I figure it is maybe Blank just doesn't age, given the fact that he's a doll, or that he just ages slowly. As for the aging of Tot, we don't really know how old he is or his aging system. After all, he is a bird. Plus, I didn't necessarily say his age in the story so...Idk. It's whatever you want it to be, but there's always something that would have it make sense. _

_My hope is that this story made some kind of sense. I don't know. I wrote it rather quickly over the course of a week, mostly writing parts of it in class. I tried to edit it so it made sense as best as I could but sometimes ideas don't come across successfully. _

_I was just so tired of people just saying that Blank burned and then was sewed up. I mean...it makes sense. Even I wrote a story on it called Fill in the Blanks. It was very short. But, I just dont' think it captured what truly happened in Blank's background. You can go really deep if you get into Blank's character. Hopefully, this story did that. _

_Again, as usual, I hope the characterization was okay for the small parts of canon dialogue I had. I would LOVE reviews to see how I did on this as this is something entirely different than everything else I have written. _


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